Golf shaft



G. J. LEMMON July 6, 1937.

GOLF SHAFT Filed March 9, 1932 Inventor Patented July 6, 1937 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE- 2 Claims.

This invention relates to golf clubs, and more particularly to theshafts thereof, irrespective of the material of which the shafts areformed.

In playing the game of golf, the primary ob- 5 jects to be obtained arefirst, the imparting of the highest speed possible to the head of thegolf club at the moment of impact with the ball, and second, to swingthe club in such a manner that the club head shortly before or at, and

shortly after this impact, is traveling along thev line of flight inwhich the ball is intended to go.

If the shaft is too large and too stiff it tends to jerk the hands outof position at the top of the back swing so that the player is thrownslightly off balance and the descent'or downward arc is not thatoriginally intended, causing hooking, slicing, topping and jerking orstopping the hands at the moment of impact of the club head with theball, all of which tends to, and often does,

spoil the stroke or shot entirely.

If, however, the shaft of the `club is too small and limber, the playerhas not the proper control over the direction of the club head so thatduring the swinging of the club, the club head wobbles in its arc andfurther, there is an excessive breakage of the shaft due to impact ofthe club head with the ground, rocks, etc. This breakage occurs in thelower third of the shaft neck near the neck, or hozzle. Shafts which aretoo limber also break due to crystallization from vibr-ation in theupper third, generally just under the grip of the shaft.

Golf shafts as constructed today are generally of wood or steel. Theseshafts are larger at the grip end and taper down to their smallestdiameter at or very close to the neck or hozzle of the club.

The wood shafts are faulty due to lack of uniformity in texture of thewood, which results 4o in warping and liability of breakage, while inthe steel shafts if the shaft is strong enough to avoid excessivebreakage, it results in the jerking of the hands out of position at thetop of the swing and further imparts a sting or shock to the hand as theclub head comes into contact with the ball or ground.

It is an object of my invention to provide a golf club shaft having aplurality of tapered sections so positioned with respect to the lengthof the shaft that the vibrations Set up in the shaft, from whatevercause, are absorbed or trapped within the shaft so that they do notinterfere either with the proper action of the hands or of the propercontrol of, the club head.

(Cl. 27E-,80)

Another object of my invention is to provide a golf club shaft which canvbe so constructed due to its having a plurality of tapered sectionsarranged along the length of the shaft as to give to the golf club shaftthat degree of flexibility de- 5 sired without weakening the generalstructure of the shaft.

Another object of my invention is to provide a golf club shaft having aplurality of tapered sections so arranged that in the event that the l0hands slow up at the moment of impact with the baIL'that the action ofslowing the club head will not retard or decrease materially the speedvof the club head-at the moment of impact.

Another object of my invention is to provide l5V a golf club shafthaving a multiplicity of tapered sections so arranged that when the clubhead is traveling in its proper arc'andalcng the proper line ofdirection, that slight or sudden jerks occurring shortly before themoment vof impact ofA the club head with the ball will not alter thespeed or direction and travel of the club head.

Another object of my invention is to provide a golf club shaft having aplurality of tapered sec-l tions so arranged that the hands will havemaxi- 25 mum control over the club head during the backward portion, atthe top, and during the rst half. of the downward swing of the clubhead, and a minimum control over the club head shortly before, or at,the moment of impact of the club 30 head with the ball.

Another object of my invention is to provide a' golf club shaft having aplurality of` tapered sections so arranged that the diameter of saidshaft. is larger and stronger at the points where break- 35 age is mostliable to occur through shock from impact or vibration, and smallestwhere there is the least strain imposed thereon.

Other objects and advantages of this invention it isbelieved will beapparent from the following 40 detailed description of a preferredembodiment. thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is an elevation of the golf club shaft 45 embodying myinvention.

Figure`2 is a sectional view of a wood shaft. embodying my invention.

Figure 3 is a sectional View of a steel shaft 50 embodying my invention.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention as illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, I- have illustrated the shaft I as having aplurality of tapered sections 2, 3, and 4, each of which 55v sections isapproximately for one-third of the total length of the shaft.

'Ihe exact length, degree of taper, and diameter of these sections will,of course, vary throughout the golf clubfrom what is commonly known as aone-iron through the iron-headed clubs, and through the different typesof wooden headed clubs used, and will likewise vary as to whether theshaft I is constructed of steel or wood, and in accordance with thethickness of the walls of which the hollow tubular steel shafts aremade.

The shaft l has the three principal sections of taper, 2, 3, and 4, thefirst of which sections section 3 of the shaft tapers in adirectionnreverse from the taper of the hozzle section 2. The section 3thus tapers toward the hozzle of the club head. 'Ihe third, or gripsection 4, of the shaft I is tapered away from the -hozzle of the clubhead or toward the upper end of the grip of the club. Y

The grip 6 of the shaft is built up on the tapering grip section 4 ofthe shaft so that the club as finally completed has nearly theappearance of an ordinary straight tapered shaft, with the exception ofthe taper between the hozzle and mid-sections 2 and `3 of the shaft.

The construction of the steel'shaft as illustrated in Figure 3 issubstantially as that illustrated for the wooden shafts of Figures 1 and2, with the exception of the thickness of the walls of the tubularshafts will cause a variation in the exact points of beginning and endofthe three.

sections of the shaft, and also the degree of the taper of the sections.

In Figure 3 the same parts are designated by the same numerals as inFigures 1 and 2 with the addition of an exponent a added thereto.

The golf club shaft of my invention is constructed in accordance withthe laws of vibration or harmonics so that the length ofthe shaft iSdivided into the three nodes 2, 3, and 4 to insure that the vibrationset up within the shaft dueto the swinging thereof or the impact of theclub with either the ball, ground or the like is absorbed within theshaft itself and is not transferred to the grip end of the shaft.

The three nodes or sections of the shaft 2, 3,

and 4, are constructed so that the shaft has the greatest strength atthe points where it receives the greatest strain. For example, thehozzle section or lower node 2 of the shaft is of its greatest diameterand strength at or near the hozzle of the golf club where the greateststrain is imposed upon the shaft. The mid-section, or second node 3, ofthe shaft is of rits greatest diameter at or near the, point of itsjoinder with the grip section, or third node 4, of the shaft, both ofwhich upper sections are at their greatest diameters at the point wherethe greatest strain is imposed upon the shaft. And the shaft isconstructed so that it has a relatively small diameter about midwaybetween the handle and the head, and tapers to a larger diameter inopposite directions from this point. The weaker sections of thetshaft,namely, the upper section of the shaft within the grip, and the sectionof the shaft immediately between the sections 2 and 3 thereof are sopositioned that they receive the least strain as the club is utilized.These sections of the shaft, being weak at the points of least strain,permit the giving to the shaft a greater flexibility than was heretoforepossible in shafts of straight taper, permitting a more flexible shaftto be constructed without the difficulty of in creasing the liability ofbreakage of the shaft.

The golf club shaft constructed in accordance with my invention, havinga multiplicity of tapered sections 2, 3, and 4, are so arranged thatwhen vibration is set up in the head end of the club, that thisvibration is absorbed Within the shaft as it passes through the sectionsof reduced diameters so that when the vibration reaches the first node,or lower section, of the shaft, this vibration is Vtransferred throughthe smaller end of this section, permitting the transfer of the leastpossible portion thereof to the tapers away from the hozzle 5 of theclub head toward the grip end of the handle. The centralA middle orsecond section 3 of the club. The vibrations reaching the second section3 of the shaft are then in reversed order, and this second node acts asan anchor, tending to confine the vibrations within these two sections.The point of connection of this section with the upper or grip sectionof the shaft being larger than any point from there to the grip end ofthe shaft, tends to reverse the vibrations and instead of crystallizingat this point, the shaft is able to absorb any vibration remainingwithout inju to the shaft.

The upper end ofthe shaft is imbedded within the built-up grip 6,consisting of an outer covering 6a; and a filler sleeve 6b, so that anyslight vibration which reaches this section of the shaft is absorbedwithin the material used in buil-ding up the grip to the proper size forthe hands. The result is that the shocks or vibrations set up withintheclub are not felt by the hands.

Y, The golf club constructed with the three principal tapered sectionsor nodes enables the player to have a more perfect'control of the swingof the golf club at all times. There are two principal times at whichcontrol of the swing of the golf club are essential requisites to theproper driving or stroke of the golf ball. Therst of these is when theclub reaches the upper end of the back swing and its direction of travelmust be reversed. At this point the player must have control of theclub. The other portion of the swing which is of extreme importance isat the moment of impact of the club head with the ball. A shaftconstructed in accordancevwith my invention eliminates the control ofthe player over the club head at this latter point, so that the failureof the player to'properly act at this point of impact because ofstopping of the hands, jerking or slowing up the action of his hands,does not have the 'effect on the club head heretofore had Where shaftswere merely of a straight taper from l their upper to their lower end.

This control of the action of the club head is dueto the differenttapered sections of the club head and due to the greater flexibilitypermitted in the construction of the golf club shaft.

Having fully -described my invention, it is to be understood that I donot wish to be limited to the details herein set forth, but my inventionis of the full scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a golf club, the combination of a head, a shaft secured thereto, ahandle secured to the shaft at the opposite end from the head, the shaftbeing divi-ded into sections of different taper, the upper section beingtapered so that its smaller end is within the upper end of the handle,the second section tapered from substantially the end of the handle to apoint intermediate the section of the shaft between the handle and thehead, and the third section being reversely tapered from the secondsection so that its largest the head, and reversely tapering to a largerdiportion is at the upper end of the head. ameter at the head and at thehandle, said shaft 2. A golf club having a head, a shaft secured tohaving a tapered handle section Within the hanthe head at one end andhaving a handle at its dle, with the smaller end of the handle sectionad- 5 other end, said shaft having a relatively small dijacent the outerend of the handle.

ameter about midway between the handle and GEORGE J. LEMMON.

